


All About David

by inevitably_johnlocked



Series: I-J's Sherlock Meta Series [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e02 The Sign of Three, Gen, Meta, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes and Sexuality, Sherlock Meta, Sherlock Theories, TJLC | The Johnlock Conspiracy, The Sign of Three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-20 11:45:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4786190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inevitably_johnlocked/pseuds/inevitably_johnlocked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My theories on this elusive one-shot character in TSo3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All About David

**Author's Note:**

> **_FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 29/14_**  
>  ** _UPDATED DECEMBER 30, 2015_**  
>  Original Meta Can be found at my blog here: [All About David](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/136293105595/all-about-david)  
> Further Discussion Here: [Additional Discussion](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/98923261100/thiis-referring-to-my-david-meta-here)
> 
> * * *
> 
> I'm strangely fascinated with the curious one-off character, David. I have many of my own theories about him, but this meta here is my main one.

Okay, so I totally had a thought, one which I haven’t come across yet, in regards to David’s purpose in Sherlock. I haven’t seen this mentioned elsewhere, so I’m hoping I’m at least being a bit original with this. As a warning, this is going to get rather “soap opera-y” so I apologize in advance. I also should also make it explicitly clear to those who don’t know me: I LOVE Mary… I love her characterization, and her mysterious past, and I am of the belief that she is the next villain, or at least one of the minor ones, next season. So keep that in mind when reading this, because it will sound like I dislike her. I DON’T. Okay, on with the show.

So, the thought I had is this: 

**I think the TEXT ACTUALLY CONFIRMS (or at least foreshadows or hints) that the baby is NOT John’s… AND SHERLOCK SUBCONSCIOUSLY SUSPECTS IT.**  


I mean, yes, there is the possible implications of [Mary’s turned-up jeans in HLV](http://natka-natka-natka.tumblr.com/post/95795143568/graceebooks-so-weve-all-conjectured-that), which is so brilliant. And there was the odd amount of attention paid to Mary’s ex, David, in TSo3, which leads a lot of us to suspect that John isn’t the father. As for me, I either think Mary is faking or the baby is not John’s, but after my lightbulb moment I’m leaning more towards the latter. And here’s why:

  


**_Wait, what?_ **

Okay, so I think the general consensus is that a lot of the fandom thinks that the baby may be David’s. Also, I believe the showrunners intended to use David as a foil for John (and for the life of me I can NOT find the meta I read this on, so please link for me!). So isn’t it odd that they both use the “ages” line? I theorize that Mary’s response to John… is sort of paralleling a response to how long it’s been when she last saw David. I found it odd that both John and David would use “ages” as to the last time they saw their “good friends” when clearly they both have seen them rather recently:  


• David pines for Mary / John pines for Sherlock  
• David describes Mary as a “good friend” / John describes Sherlock as his best friend  


We know from the text in HLV that Mary has been under her current pseudonym for at least 5 years. Sherlock states that Mary and David had been dating for at least two of those years _(and knows her as ‘Mary’, so I’m thinking they met AFTER the identity theft)._ David **stutters** that they are “just good friends”… but Sherlock NEVER tells us which two of those 5 years David had been dating Mary. I theorize that David and Mary were together just before Mary dated John, and SHE called it off _(which explains David’s creepy stalker tendencies … you know, kind of like how John’s obsessed with Sherlock, what a coincidence)._  


See, I believe that Mary was placed with John, and maybe she and David had to reluctantly call it off. With this in mind, perhaps when she wasn’t seeing John, she was seeing David. I think initially, John for Mary was what she was to John: A REBOUND. Maybe Mary, like John, got swept up in the relationship eventually, and accepted the proposal on a whim, perhaps to help her get over David. Anyway, I think perhaps she and David still saw each other, maybe met up here and there, and last saw each other “about a month ago”… before the wedding perhaps?  


And yes, I KNOW Sherlock deduced that Mary was pregnant at the end of TSo3, but “about a month ago” could be the LAST TIME Mary said “okay, we need to back off, I’m getting married, we’re done” to David. What’s to say that all those times John and Sherlock were running off on their dates cases, Mary and David weren’t meeting up. … Oh. **_OHHHH. Just had a thought!_**  


What if this shot not only foreshadowed her devious nature, but MAYBE she had “sinful thoughts” on her mind? In an episode _RIDDLED_ with allusions to infidelity, what’s to say that she wasn’t cheating on John with David? She did seem rather eager to be rid of Sherlock and John at this moment. My goodness, I think I just found the time frame of the conception. I’m no expert on pregnancy _AT ALL_ so I had to do a bit of research [on when morning sickness / change in taste perception occurs](http://www.babycentre.co.uk/x25006037/when-does-morning-sickness-start) _(both of which Sherlock deduced at the end of the wedding and both occur around week six apparently. BUT it is different for every woman)_. It’s two more weeks until the upcoming rehearsal _(we don’t know how far ahead from the wedding the rehearsal was, but I’ll presume one to two days before)_ when that horn scene occurs, so assuming perhaps Mary shows signs of pregnancy much earlier (and this is television, so suspension of disbelief is to be expected), then the “Mary’s infidelity” plotline could actually be true.  


It’s a fortunate thing then that John:  


Looks a HELL of a lot like David, then:  


Looks like John’s not the only one attracted to people who look like their previous 'partners’.  


ANYWAY, the initial point I was trying to make was that with both John and David using “ages”… Mary is could be responding to David’s reply to Sherlock, who in this episode occasionally is paralleled to Mary.  


Oh, it seems I had a second part to my theory: **_Sherlock subconsciously suspects [Mary’s infidelity]_**. Ah, well, let me show you this:  


That lamp sure as hell stands out behind Sherlock quite a bit, don’t you think? There are a quite a few meta about that lamp _(and all I can find is[this one](http://hail-natalia.tumblr.com/post/90080972377/loving-him-was-red-the-lamp-in-hlv)… please link me to the other ones if you know them!)_ , but the long-short of it is that the red globe lamp is often used to symbolize a character’s thoughts or feelings in the series. In this case, I think it’s symbolizing that a warning light has gone off in Sherlock’s head about this man. I mean the lamp is RED(-ish) and it’s RIGHT NEXT TO SHERLOCK’S HEAD the ENTIRE scene. Sherlock’s already rather suspicious of David in this short scene, but I think, much like the rest of the episode, Sherlock had made one more deduction that he wasn’t expecting during this time. We saw in this episode that [Sherlock can deduce subconsciously](http://loudest-subtext-in-television.tumblr.com/post/72857969693/what-is-love-anyway-or-how-sherlock-holmes-deduced) and [come to a conclusion much later](http://tmblr.co/Zvjfrp14Km9qH), so I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that at this moment, Sherlock has subconsciously deduced that Mary and David are *still* somehow currently involved, and perhaps that the infamous heartbroken look at the end of _TSo3_ …

… is not only Sherlock pining hardcore for John _**(which it totally is, someone hold me)**_ but it could also be a combination of feelings, one of them maybe, upon realizing that Mary was pregnant, being regret that he suspects that the baby is also possibly not John’s. One more deduction he wasn’t expecting.  


_So why wouldn’t he tell John?_ I hear you cry. **Because Sherlock is SO DONE with hurting John** and he truly believes that, _pre-HLV_ , Mary is good for him. Post- _HLV_ , my head is still all over the place about it, but I still think he and John have a plan for her concocted during John’s separation from Mary, but that’s a whole other meta I’m not writing because I’m not _THAT_ good at analysing things.  


Perhaps I’m pulling at straws, but I really do love character foils and I found this idea / headcanon interesting enough to bring to the pool of theories going around. Then again, there are also quite a few “red herrings / false leads” in Sherlock as a whole, so I’m open to this being another likely scenario where there are lots of facts to support a theory but the theory never actually being true.  


Anyway, I’m actually really hoping more for the [“empty box”](http://deducingbbcsherlock.tumblr.com/post/80839602370/why-we-may-never-meet-baby-watson) theory, because I honestly don’t want a baby on this show. Regardless, I love reading these Mary meta and theories for the next series. 

* * *

>   
> **[dspence](http://dspence.tumblr.com/)** :
> 
> I was just reading your David meta. I actually worked in a fertility clinic, so I have some info: the time from ovulation to a positive pregnancy test is roughly two weeks. Nicknamed "the two-week wait," a test can show positive anywhere 10 to 14 days after conception. The physical act of sex needs to happen in the 24-36 hours surrounding ovulation (anywhere from 12 hours preceding to 12 after is prime time). 
> 
> So. The fact that the show tells us that the Bloody Guardsman case was two weeks before the rehearsal dinner, which is the night before the wedding, is significant. Because John wasn't with her that day. She specifically got him AND Sherlock out of the house, alone together, where they wouldn't be thinking about her AT ALL. She guarantees her ability to sneak around and do anything she wants without any suspicion. 
> 
> So, the real question is: who did she see that day? Because, whoever she saw, that person is the father and not John Watson.

Wow! I’m so excited that this popped into my messages today!!! this is one of my favourite meta of mine, so to have someone who actually knows this stuff.... AHHHH so exciting! 

Basically, the kid ain’t John’s at all. 

—-  
**_All gifs and images made by me[inevitably-johnlocked](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com). Transcripts for gifs from [here](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/tag/sherlock%20episode%20transcript)._ **

For more David Meta, check out [It's a Tricky Thing](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/103921820225/beejohnlocked-cheuwing), [Why Does Sherlock Need to Threaten David](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/94353921855/wow-it-just-hit-me-why-does-sherlock-feel), [David is Mycroft's Agent](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/103922516905/david-is-mycrofts-secret-agent), [The Baby Problem](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/129863142645/the-baby-problem), and [The Horns of Infidelity](http://inevitably-johnlocked.tumblr.com/post/135504679525/i-know-the-most-common-interpretation-of-mary-with)


End file.
